"Message from the owners of GHQ" Topic

There is much discussion around the internet relating to the size of miniatures to use with the Team Yankee rules. A growing number of people are choosing GHQ 1/285th scale Micro ArmourŪ for playing Flames of War. Many people have said that they would switch to 1/285th, but they have already invested hundreds, or thousands, of dollars in Flames of War miniatures. Now people are looking at the same choices in contemplating getting into the Team Yankee rules.

There are some facts that you should be aware of before making that decision.

GHQ developed its Modern armour line in the 1970's under a contract with the Command & Staff College at Fort Leavenworth specifically for the Dunn Kempf game, a tactical and grand tactical game designed to train army officers on how to defend the Fulda Gap from attack by Soviet forces- the same Fulda Gap scenario that inspired the Team Yankee book.

GHQ's line of modern miniatures were designed from highly classified drawings and photos supplied to US Army Intelligence on a "need to know" basis. These were designed at a time when few people even knew what the equipment looked like. The army contacted GHQ because they became familiar with our 1/285th scale line of WWII Micro ArmourŪ miniatures. They liked them, and felt that 1/285th was the perfect scale for wargaming modern warfare.

After supplying the miniatures for Dunn Kempf, we established a long term relationship with many units of the US Army and National Guard units across the country. Many foreign officers attending the international officers school at Fort Leavenworth, and later Fort Leonardwood, came into contact with GHQ Micro ArmourŪ. Over the years since, GHQ has supplied Micro ArmourŪ for training aids to Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Australia, New Zealand, and many other armed forces.

In 1991 during the run-up to Desert Storm, GHQ shipped huge quantities of Micro ArmourŪ to many military units before they deployed, as well as to forces in the field in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Kits were specially prepared for use in the field, carried in Bradley squad leader vehicles for on-site explanations of planned attacks. Some of you may remember footage on CNN of a squad leader deploying the kits in the field using his hands to form miniature terrain in the desert sand and deploying GHQ Micro ArmourŪ, both US and Iraqi vehicles, on the sandtable-like battlefield. GHQ also supplied all of the miniatures used by NBC, CBS, and ABC that were used on-air for demonstrations as Desert Shield turned into Desert Storm.

GHQ has a long and colorful history supplying Micro ArmourŪ to the US Army for wargaming. At the same time that GHQ was developing Modern Micro ArmourŪ Gen. Donn Starry was in command of 5th Corp covering the Fulda Gap. He developed the plans for defending the Gap. He was a big fan of GHQ Micro ArmourŪ, and when he was later put in command of TRADOC (US Army Training and Doctrine Command) at Fort Eustis he was instrumental in getting Micro ArmourŪ in use at training schools all over the country including Fort Benning, Fort Carson, Fort Huachuca, and many others including the Marines.

GHQ makes all of the vehicles used in Team Yankee for the Dunn Kempf game, as well as many others in the 1980's, and has kept current with vehicle introductions by most nationalities since then. GHQ's range of modern vehicles is staggering, and today represents hundreds of vehicles.

The GHQ Modern Micro ArmourŪ is the same line, continually improved, that was used by the US Army in the 1980's to train for the Fulda Gap. You make the choice which line of vehicles, and scale is the most appropriate for modern wargaming. The US military already has.

Thank you,
Gregory Scott, GHQ Founder

The figures are great – unbelievable actually. And they paint up rather nicely.

KAM

I know I ordered a bunch on Uncle Sam's dime for my Bde when I was at Ft. Benning in '89 …

I have been a fan of GHQ for years and agree that they would be perfect for Team Yankee. I use other rules for my Modern gaming but perhaps I'll buy Team Yankee rules as another reason to bring out my GHQ moderns.

It occurs to me that there might be an interest in the wargaming community for those kits…

Great stuff and the weapon range to ground scale looks so much better in 1/285.

Are all the Cold War infantry types available? I had considered giving GHQ a try but I seem to recall that most of the modern infantry are…well, modern.

Not sure, but more likely Ultra-Modern as opposed to the mid-1980s troops.

Sadly too, some of the older kit seems to be MIA, like plain vanilla, Leopard 1s, and M60A2s, etc..

They used to produce these, but they appear to have been discontinued, sadly, since they aren't listed on their website any longer.

I have many of the figures for WWII and Modern (up to about 1980 when I stopped trying to be up-to-date). The Infantry is just as varied as for the flames of war (15mm). WWII US infantry:
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The different nations in WWII:
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Nice to hear the back story of some of your ranges. I have some of the Vietnam era models put away to paint later when I can fit it in.

Will GHQ be doing Team Yankee starter sets?

Don't know if they will do starter sets but if you look at their website their Combat Commands are a good way to get a basic company size unit.

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TheT80s and M1A1s are a little cutting edge for TY but at this scale…

And GHQ has their own rules, too!

As soon as I heard about TY, I got my modern micro armor collection out and started painting it up. I never even considered doing it in 15mm scale.

They have a few lines of infantry for the US and USSR – modern (probably 1980s through 90s) and then ultra-modern, 2001+. They also have Vietnam era US infantry, which should take you up to where the "modern" kicks in.

For other nations, the Third World Warriors (regulars) can often fill in for earlier infantry. Brushfire Warriors can work for anyone you want in berets. So you have to do some mix and matching sometimes, but generally you can get most things sorted out.

GHQ has received a whole lot of my money in the past few months. The figures are great. I wish my painting could do them a tad more justice.

When you get into some 3rd world nations the world war II infantry work in some instances into the 70s and 80s.

Gregory Scott:
Thank you for designing, producing and making available you Micro Armour models. I have been a fan and a big consumer of your product since the mid-1980's and have been a very satisfied customer. So well done and once again a big thanks for your commitment to excellence in detail and playability. Bravo, sir.
A very appreciative fan.
Cheers.
Rod Robertson.

Nice figures, but the scale is too small for old eyes. I can't tell what is what across a large table.

I'm looking into higher level WW2 and these would be just delicious…temptation ahh $@%#@

And yet GHQ could'nt be bothered to make the german Puma to scale…

I played on the original Dunn Kempf boards in college. Ah, memories.

Regarding the German Puma IFV. This was discussed on the GHQ forums. I thought it was oversize too, but it is to scale. GHQ's version is the one with the full add=on armor kit which makes it appear to be out of scale. Checking the dimensions of the model to the actual vehicle with the full add-on armor kit results in a 1:285 ratio.

The new Puma is huge.

I Love them!
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I have tons of GHQ and CinC 1/285 – 1/300. Most 1/285 games are 1" = 50meters. With the 1/600 (3mm) stuff I'm playing 12" = 1000meeters versus 20" with the 1/285.

I wish there was more than one vender for 1/600. I know it's not a popular scale yet. But it's amazing the scale difference the games you can get on a smaller surface. I just need some M60A2s in 1/600.

I only use that scale for SF now and only because I still have two Kaiser Rushforth cases of 1/285 plus 1/300 plus 6mm legacy stuff to sell off.

For Historical games I use 3mm miniatures in my old age. Painting is easier because you can be leaner in the details you need to paint. When the stuff above is sold off I may move my SF combined arms to 3mm.

I used Micro ArmourŪ as a student in both the US Army's Armor Officer's Basic and Advanced courses on some rather elaborate maneuver boards. As a company commander, I took a set with me on deployment to Bosnia to use for professional development of my Lieutenants who were missing a lot of "Tanking" due to our HUMMV based mission there.

I have other makes in my collection; C&C, some old DAVCO, etc. mostly for the OPFOR stuff, but my whole US kit was/is all Micro ArmourŪ Now that Team Yankee has come out, these are getting dusted off and touched up and I'm happy to see them get used again! I really have no need to buy any more, but I do think my infantry needs to be updated with the newer Micro ArmourŪ infantry figures.

Just as a side note, the first "wargame" I ever played back in 1st grade (mid 1970s) was with GHQ tanks out in the grass of my best friends' backyard making rumbling noises and going "Pchew! Pchew!" making explosion noises, and knocking off the turrets when the tanks got "hit." Never stopped wargaming ever since. Thanks GHQ!

I've been gaming with them since the mid 70s. Never thought of playing WWII or moderns in any other scale.

My first miniatures game ever was in 1990 when we used Micro Armour for a sand table exercise to practice a breach maneuver against a deliberate defense a la Iraq. After the walk through was done the L-T broke out the dice… I've been hooked on miniatures games ever since.

I plan to do Team Yankee in both 6mm and 15mm.

That is a pretty wicked story. Thanks for sharing :-)

The small scales are awesome. More people should buy 3 and 6mm. :)

I'm a big fan of GHQ too, I have a moderns project (actually two – ultramodern West vs. China and 1983-ish Cold War Gone Hot) but using other rules than TY.

@Lincolnlog – there are some other 3mm vendors around for scenery, and Magister Militum also has ancients, ECW/TYW, WSS figures in 3mm. No help for moderns, but it is a growing "scale".

Got to use the Dunn Kempf minis many times while I served in the Army.

"GHQ has received a whole lot of my money in the past few months. The figures are great. I wish my painting could do them a tad more justice."

+1

My group has been using 1/285 with FoW for a long time. In fact I even wrote about it in an article several years ago. We started doing it because we liked the look. Tank games don't look right with 2 rows of tanks lined up "shoulder to shoulder" and pounding the crap out of each other from 12" apart. It's not 1812, and they aren't shooting muskets. I also don't like my games to look like a supermarket parking lot.

I think that the ground scale and the look of the game are a much bigger deal with BF rules when you are playing moderns. I can't imagine doing it in 15's.

As noted, we have been using micro with FoW for a long time, but I didn't know the background story on the GHQ line being planned with the US military. That's pretty cool. I don't know if we will get into TY, but if we do we will definitely go with micro.

PS Has anyone played TY yet? Is it pretty much FoW with modern? What's the learning curve if you already know FoW?

For those that use 6mm in TY du u cut the ranges in half or convert them to centimeters instead of inches?

I've seen some great looking games in even 20mm, so it is doable. You just need to change the ground scale, accept some compromises, and have a nice looking tabletop, with an interesting variety of terrain.

I do agree though, that 1/285th is better for Modern gaming than many scales, from a more realistic, ground-scale perspective. 3mm is even better, but really pushing the envelope as far as the small size of the minis.

For those that use 6mm in TY du u cut the ranges in half or convert them to centimeters instead of inches?

I keep the same measurements that I use with the 15mm scale miniatures. It just looks so right that way.

I appreciate GHQ, have utilized their micro armor for 2 and a half decades. GHQ is expanding their product line regularly, listen to customers for product development.

Sadly, still no MBT-70s to speak of.

Petrov -

You use the same measurements, distances, templates for TY in 6mm. Nothing changes.

You can also do the same for FoW – especially AIW. The game plays really well that way. But then it is a visual opinion.

At the same time, it is also a cost issue. A 6mm M1 is a lot less money than a BF 15mm M1. And with the readily available lines from several manufacturers, the cost benefit can really add up. I basically "bough the book" in 6mm for what it would cost for the starter boxes.

I think GHQ microarmor is actually more detailed than most 15mm models. Some samples (painted quickly by a real wargamer and not a professional painter):

I can't wait to see t-72's packed side-to-side with no space between them, because, you know, reasons…

tbread, keep your military equipment in the depot…. We will watch you.

Chrisswim-- Don't worry; they are nonfunctional static display models. Honest.

Thankyou GHQ for making quality products.
My group has done FoW WWII Megabattles, like Kursk, using your miniatures and we are getting into Team Yankee at the 6mm scale too.
BTW: We are keeping everything like movement and firing. in inches, same as called for in the rule book.
Joep

tbeard, I believe you….